Guiding Principles Part II (Churning...)

As I draft my Guiding Principles, I am going to go on the assumption that I will become familiar with a wide variety of technology tools in my own time for my own personal learning interest. It is from this "techie toolbox" that I will take any instructional technologies that I plan on using in my classroom. Unless it's a very straightforward device or application to use (ie. would take no more than two hours to master in one sitting), I vow to not implement the use of anything I am not comfortable with into my class halfway through the year.

My Guidelines...

1. Know what's out there, keep up to date with emerging educational technologies and be aware of what technologies the students seem comfortable with or are using/ learning in other subjects.

2. Network with other teachers who are already integrating technology into their classrooms successfully to get ideas and recommendations. A good way to do this is via blogs such as The Edublogger, Free Tech for Teachers or Classroom 2.0, since many teachers reply to posts with what has worked and what hasn't for them and a specific Web 2.0 tool.

3. When planning for teaching a subject Unit, start with the learning objectives and consider whether any could be taught more efficiently (eg. in terms of time, depth, student engagement) using technology. Once a learning objective that could be enhanced has been established, consider what technie tool would do be best for the job. It is important to keep going back to the reason behind using technology in the Science classroom, so I have created a chart for myself that I will use to remind myself... here is a draft:


4. Map out:

• the time frame for the tech-based learning experience
• what its execution/management would require from teacher and students
• any extra requirements to keep in mind: cost, equipment, class time
• how I will wrap up the project and what form of assessment I will use (it would be important to include in the assessment process an opportunity for students to evaluate their learning- what they got out of the experience, what they would change, etc.)

5. Ask myself again whether it would be realistic and if its the best use of time, or whether learning objective could be taught achieved best using other more traditional tools that the students are already comfortable with.

6. Take time after the completion of the project to evaluate my own teaching practice critically. Ask myself: How successful was the integration of technology in this particular Unit? Would I do use it again? How could it be improved next time? Take notes + attach to the Unit while its fresh in my mind.